


Beautiful Things

by FilmInMySoul



Category: Young Avengers
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Art student Teddy, Drawing, Librarian Billy, M/M, Nerds in denial, Pining, bruce banner as an art teacher, oblivious teddy, pining teddy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-11
Updated: 2015-06-11
Packaged: 2018-04-03 22:06:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4116510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FilmInMySoul/pseuds/FilmInMySoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Teddy likes to draw beautiful things. He also likes to go to the campus library every other day of the week. It's not his fault that the brown haired librarian behind the desk is beautiful.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beautiful Things

**Author's Note:**

> This was written from one of the many ideas I've come up with to write, you can find the list here -http://fearlessandproud.tumblr.com/post/120249617087/which-teddy-billy-idea-should-i-start-with
> 
> I hope you like this one and the ones that follow!

Teddy liked to go to the library, he spent time studying, sometimes just reading, most of the time, however, he spent sketching. Of course, he had other motives to go to the library. He liked the silence it provided, but more than anything he liked to look at the brunette boy that sat behind the front desk and checked people's books out. His name tag read Billy, Teddy knew, even from the distance that he sat because he had sketched the name tag more than a few times.

He liked to sit at a table in the back, close enough to the front desk so that he could sketch the brunette in an accurate enough manner but not too close that it would draw the attention of the other boy. Sometimes Teddy felt creepy, looking at the other boy so intently but it wasn't something that he hadn't ever done before so he never thought to not sketch him. Teddy loved to draw beautiful things.

He sat down with his friends at lunch, the clock on the wall ticking away to when his electives would start and his day would end. It had been a long week for the blonde. Coincidentally for Teddy, three tables away sat Billy, idly flipping the pages of a comic book and dressed in more casual clothing than he usually wore in the library. Teddy's eyes moved to him almost on instinct.

Kate sat down beside him as the blonde was flipping open a clean page in his heavy sketchbook, he was pulling out his pencils and was deciding what kind of coloring he wanted to use when Kate piped up.

"You should use watercolor, you're always using coal or ink," Teddy flushed a small amount. Kate was only one of the few people he knew about his drawing the same "model" constantly. While Bruce Banner, their Live Art teacher, thought they were wonderful, Kate liked to tease him about how he was almost stalking the other boy. Teddy had tried to get her off the subject whenever she started but at the moment she was right beside him and Teddy could feel his finger itching to pick up his pen and sweep lines that he had drawn so many times before over the white expanse of paper.

Kate gave an exasperated sigh beside him.

"Go ahead, I'm not going to judge, not out loud at least, you've got talent and if you want to use it drawing the same person in a slightly obsessive manner every other day in the week be my guest." Kate really knew how to kill Teddy's creative moods. Teddy's head dropped lightly as he packed his things up and ran a hand through his hair.

"You're right," Teddy knew it wasn't cool to draw someone this much, it was also not like him, but the brunette had sparked something inside of him, gave him the impression that he held the universe in his soul, but the way his back curved when he leaned against the library table, the way that Billy would catch his bottom lip in his teeth when he couldn't get the libraries dinosaur like scanner to get the book code, the way that his brown eyes smiled just as much as his mouth did, how his arms held so many books and he could still walk with so much grace around the shelves and even when his feet got away from him and he tripped it was like he was laughing because he knew it would happen. In simple terms. Teddy was ruined.

Kate gave him a sympathetic smile. Teddy hadn't done really well in terms of properly expressing his feels towards others for a long time, not since Greg. Kate knew this and Teddy knew what she was thinking. She knew that he had it bad. And, of course, as his self-appointed best friend, it was Kate's job to get him to make a move.

"Maybe you should just say hi to him, you've never even spoken to him right?" Kate was true, in the months that he frequented the library he hadn't said a single word the to boy, it wasn't Teddy's fault that he was emotionally stunted though. It was just who he was. Kate gave another sigh as she picked at her salad. The student union was buzzing with chatter like usual and it was why the two ate lunch there. It was was nice to be surrounded by noise.

"Look, make a personal goal to say hello to him at least once, today even, you were planning to go to the library to get the impressionistic book anyway right?" Teddy nodded. He had meant to get the book the day before, but he had needed to stay after to talk to his math teacher and hadn't managed. The difference in days was that the day before Billy wasn't meant to be working in the library while today he was. Teddy felt a small tingle of nerves press against his stomach.

"Kate I'm not..." Kate held up a hand, stopping the words from leaving Teddy's lips.

"If you say you're not sure then I'm going to hit you." Teddy knew that she meant it.  
Instead of trying to argue with the long haired girl Teddy just simply nodded, he checked his watch.

"I have to get to class or I'll get a bad seat," Teddy picked up his shoulder bag and adjusted the leather cuff on his wrist before hugging Kate and heading towards the building he was needed in. Kate shook her head fondly. Sometimes she wondered if her friend was ever going to get a clue. Kate turned her head towards the table where the brunette her friend had a crush on sat and wasn't at all surprised when she met his eyes. Billy's face flushed at being caught and he looked away quickly. Kate smirked and ate another bite of her food.

Teddy made it to the library that day at a reasonable time and instead of heading to the table he usually sat at he headed towards the rows upon rows of books. He was glad that everything was so meticulously labeled or he would have never found the art section of the shelves.

It took him a few moments to find exactly what he had been looking for but when he did the blonde smiled in triumph. Dr. Banner had suggested that he looked at impressionism for a sense of inspiration and so Teddy had promised the man that he would look for the book that had been recommended.

The blonde swallowed the nervous lump that had formed in his throat as he headed to the front counter. He could see Billy as he approached. The brunette had changed from the jeans and Captain America shirt he had been wearing in the Student Union to a white button down and brown vest and brown slacks. Teddy's fingers itched to pick up a pencil, he steeled himself and headed towards the checkout desk.

Teddy placed his book down on the desk lightly, Billy was doing some kind of cataloging on the computer, or at least that's what it seemed like to Teddy so the brown eyed boy hadn't noticed his presence. 

'Now or never,' Teddy thought. He cleared his throat. Billy seemed to startle and he turned around with a smile that faltered just a little around the edges when he saw whom it was that was at his counter.

"Um, Hi, I need to, um, I need to check this out." Teddy motioned to the book that he had place. Billy, after getting over his intial thought perked up and the smile on his face lifted to where it had once been when he'd turned around.

"Not a problem!" The brunette replied happily as he took the book from the table and looked over the title quickly, he hummed slightly and cast a gaze back to the blonde whose face had a touch of a smile on it, the nerves from his nody slipping away. Why had saying hello to the boy even made his nervious in the first place? Teddy didn't dwell on it.

"Art huh? Is that what you're doing all the time by the tables?" Billy asked the question so innocently but it made Teddy's face flush. Billy had noticed him. Billy had noticed him. Teddy chastised himself mentaly. Just because Billy knew that he was there didn't mean anything, it didn't mean that Billy knew he was drawing the brunette himself. Teddy came in to the place at least three times a week, of course Billy had noticed him.

"Um, yeah, something like that," Teddy's hand ran through his hand and then moved to one of the cuffs on his ears, it was nervious habbit. Billy seemed blissfully unawear of the slight embaressment that Teddy was feeling and conteniued to talk as he tried to get the book to scan before giving up and entering it manually.

"That's really cool, I can't draw to save my life. Not an artistic bone in my body," the brunette chuckled.

'You're a work of art in it's self, so it doesn't matter,' Teddy found himself thinking as he watched the brunette's fingers clikc deftly over the keys and the ancient computer that the library had provided for it's worker. He blinked his eyes away, this wasn't the time to be staring like a complete creep.

"I'll need your I.D. to complete the check out," Billy explained, a thin fingered hand held out so that Teddy could give him the plastic card. It took the blonde a moment but he produced it easily from his wallet and watched as Billy conteniued to type things into the computer. 

"Theodore Altman, cool name," Billy gave him a smile and handed him his card back. "My name's Billy," Teddy resisted the urge to say 'I know,' and simply smiled.

"You can call me Teddy, only my mom calls me Theodor." Billy smiled brightly again and nodded. He flipped the front page of the book open and stamped the little library ticket that was tucked away in it's holder.

"You've got two weeks with the book until you get fined. You can always renew it if you need more time though." Billy gave him the logistics of his check out and Teddy nodded along with what he was saying as he accepted the book from the shorter boy.

"Thanks, I really shouldn't need it that long but thanks." Teddy gave him a smile and Billy returned it. The two stood there for a short time, not sure what to say to one another. Teddy flushed lightly and gave a small chuckle.

"Well, um, I'll see you around." Teddy gave one last smile and walked off. The smiled stayed on his face until he got to Kate's room on the west end of the campus. It was the nicer dorms that the schools had, she might have not wanted to live with her dad anymore but she hadn't said no to a little help with the bills. Teddy didnt' blame her.

Teddy knocked her door a couple of times before walking in. He wasn't surpised to see her on her laptop, sprawled against her bed with papers littering the rest of her matress. She was getting her degree in buisness and he could see it was already taking it's toll on her time table. She never let it show though. She was used to functioning under pressure.

"So?" She asked, not even looking up from her typing, it was what they did. Teddy knew that he had her attention.

"I said hello, I even managed to make a little bit of small talk." Teddy smiled, he wasn't sure that he had stopped.

"How many times did you muddle your words?" Teddy shot her a look but she knew him too well.

"Once, you'd have been proud." Kate didn't need to say it aloud. She already was.

"So what's the next part of your plan?" Teddy didn't say anything, there wasn't another part of the plan. Kate sighed and mummbled something that sounded suspisiously like 'hopeless.' Teddy grabbed a pillow from her small loveseat and tossed it at her gently. Kate glared at him and smirked. Teddy never liked that look.

"No Kate, no evil plans, if anything happens then it will happen on it's own. No getting involved." Teddy made sure that he sounded serious. It was the only way he knew to get Kate off his back. The brunette woman didn't push. The smirk fell from her face and she sighed.

"Let's watch a movie or something, my eyes hurt from all these tenchinal terms." Teddy nodded and smiled, grabbing something from her hazardously constructed stack and pulled a couple of cokes from her minifridge. They spent the next few hours watching movies until Teddy told her he needed to leave. 

The blonde went to bed with a smile on his face as he remembered the small conversation he had with Billy. It had been a good day.  
Over the next week or so, any time Teddy went to the library and Billy was at the front desk Teddy would smile and say hello to him and 

Billy would do the same, sometimes they talked for a few minutes until someone came up to Billy to check out a book and Teddy would say he would talk to Billy later and went to sit in his usual spot, his art supplies scattered around the table as he worked on his impressionist art project.

A few times Billy would leave the check out counter and make his way to Teddy's table. One of those day's Teddy had been taking a break from doing impresionalism and had started to sketch the brunette, the compact form of his shoulders, the way his dark hair sometimes slipped into his eyes. When he notcied Billy's approuch, Teddy had all but slammed his sketch book closed and place a hand over it as the brunette sat down, comic in hand and small smile on his lips.

Teddy smiled at the other boy as he started talking about the latest Flash issue, the one that Teddy hadn't been able to get himself but he had explained he didn't mind so Billy went off on a tangent. It was good to know that they had such a big thing in common. They were both complete and total fanboys.

When Teddy went to Kate's room that night and recounted his day the girl just shook her head lightly. The two had been dancing aroud each other for far too long for Kate's liking. She needed to call in back up. Teddy was getting no where on his own.

Luckily on the day that Kate was going to barge into library and demand that the brunette come forward with his completely not one-sided crush she found that he was occupied with a silver-haired boy who wore an eerily similar face as Billy. Brothers Kate decided. 

She then hid quickly behind a shelf so she could eavesdrop.

"So blondies not here to woo you with his manly artist ways today?" The silver haired boy asked his eyes sparkling with amusment. Billy flushed.

"Teddy doesn't come here to "woo me," jeez Tommy, it's not like that." Billy replied to his brother imputting another book into his computer. Kate rose a brow and continured to listen.

"Yeah, maybe, but you wish he was." Tommy teased, backing away from the desk as Billy picked up a book to throw at him.

"Get a life Tommy," Billy, face flushed appropriately, started to work on his things again. Kate smiled and stepped out of the library, waiting to intercept the silver haired boy, a plan had started to form in her head and she needed this kid as back up.  
When Tommy came out of the double doors of the library Kate called out to him. 

"You're Billy's brother right?" Tommy gave her a questioning look but nodded. "Good, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with him, I'm Teddy's best friend and I think we have similar goals." Tommy wasn't sure but he continued to listen.

"Go on." He pushed.

"Your brothers got a crush on my best friend and my best friend is using him as a personal muse because he doesn't know how to express his emotions like a normal human being. I've got a plan and I need your help." 

"I'm listening..."

"Do you know how to make trouble."

Tommy smirked, a sly and easy grin slipping over his face. Kate matched his perfectly.

"What exactly did you have in mind?"

He and Kate walked towards the dorms as she explaiend what she had been thinking.

A few days later Teddy was heading to the library Kate was ready. She knew that the boy never secured his finished art work and she was prepaired to exploit that fact to it's maximum potential.

Having followed Teddy without his knowlege to the oldest building on the campus Kate hid the best she could among the multitude of shelves phone at the ready to single her plan into action. 

All in all it took nearly an hour. Teddy had been at his usual table, a fresh drawing of the brunette at the front desk making it's way over the white expanse of Teddy's paper. He felt calm as he made sweeping lines with his charcoal stick, giving the smooth sketch a hint of edge. When it was finished he slipped a piece of wax paper over the drawing so it woudn't smudge and placed it in his completed works folder. Tucking it under his arm in a manner he felt was sucure he moved to leave the library. 

Kate dialed up her phone and placed it on her ear. Tommy answered after the first ring. "Do it." She hung up and waited. Suddenly a silver haired boy came rushing through the front of the library and knocked unceremoniously into Teddy, the blonde threw his hands out to catch himself so that he didn't smack his face into the ground.

"Tommy! Jesus, don't run in the library!" Billy shouted to his brother as he moved to Teddy's side in order to make sure that he was alright.

"Don't shout in the library Billy!" Tommy called back with a small laugh, ducking around the corner he met Kate in the rows of shelves. They watched what happened next.

Billy bent down beside Teddy, the question of weither or not he was alright on his tongue until he caught the sight of scattered paper. 

Billy's brow scrunched together in confusion as he picked a few of them up. It was him on the paper, drawn in sharp lines and blotted with bright water colors, another was of him shadded in what looked to be inky black charcoal. They were both beautiful.  
Teddy leaned back on his thighs and his green eyes danced around the floor, his scattered art work uncovered for the world to see, for Billy to see, at least fifteen of him and maybe a few of Kate or of landscape. Most of them were Billy and Teddy's epression was one that showed just how mortified he was.

"Uh..." The blonde had no explanation for this, other than his weird obsession with drawing things he thought were beautiful. That would be admitting his attraction to the other boy and Teddy flushed hard as his secrets were sprawled over the floor for the library assistant to see. He wished the ground would open beneith him.

"Wow. These make me look hot." Billy's statement shook Teddy out of his stupor as he started at the brunette who had picked up a few more of the drawings. Teddy recognized on of the first ones, he had seen Billy lean across the library counter and had felt the urge to capture the image on paper. It was of Billy, back arched slightly as he leaned on his elbows, he was wearing a blue button up and black bow tie, black slacks and a pen was caught between his teeth, brows brought together as he mulled over something Teddy had assumed was homework. It was one of his favorite.

"They don't really do you justice." Teddy couldn't believe he had actually said it allowed. Now that he had and Billy wasn't upset about the insain amount of drawing there were of him. Teddy watched as Billy flushed from the complement.  
Billy had this look on his face like he wanted to ask him something but couldn't find the words and Teddy knew that he needed to do something before things became more awkward.

"I've got more, um, of you, some others, if you wanted to see them, over coffee, maybe." Teddy fumbled a little with his words but the smile that Billy gave him was completely worth the few minutes of complete and total terrified embaressment.

"That sounds great. I get off in an hour." Teddy nodded and together they gathered the rest of Teddy's art work off of the floor. 

A few rows away Kate was smiling and gave Tommy a thumbs up. "Mission sucessful."


End file.
